A beauty editor’s Drybar Baby Buttercup Travel Blow-Dryer review: is it a good fit for your suitcase?

Before life as a beauty editor, I worked as cabin crew, so I know all too well the plight of a terrible hotel hair dryer. Finding yourself abroad, stuck with no other option a whimpering, hair-frazzling dryer fastened to the bathroom wall is enough to ruin anyone’s holiday. That’s why it’s worth investing in a quality travel model that will last a lifetime’s worth of trips and keep your hair healthy – and this Drybar Baby Buttercup Travel Blow-Dryer review will walk you through one such option.

So, what do you need to know about this contender for one of the best travel hair dryers? Coming from a brand known for its blow dry salons, Drybar has an array of best-selling hair tools (including my personal favourite, the Drybar Double Shot Blow Dryer Brush) all in its signature yellow colour. But today, I’m trying its travel dryer.

The little sister to the Drybar Buttercup Hair Dryer, the Baby Buttercup promises to deliver on power, handling and portability in a much smaller, more compact design. I remain a stern critic at heart, though, so let’s see how it really measures up...

Our contributing beauty editor's full Drybar Baby Buttercup Travel Blow-Dryer

Our first impressions of the Drybar Baby Buttercup Travel Blow-Dryer

Drybar’s Baby Buttercup is definitely eye-catching. Its bright yellow colourway makes it stand out, but it was a bit much for my own personal taste. I don’t really want to notice my hair dryer in the corner of a hotel room as much as I did with this one.

Comfortable in your hand, it’s light to hold and the folding handle is a fantastically practical feature. I liked the included travel bag as it adds a premium feel to the overall experience, but it could have a longer cord to make it more practical; hotel plug sockets aren’t always as close to the mirror as I’d like!

I was a little disappointed to find the heat and power settings are combined on this hair dryer. In a premium hair dryer, you’d expect to be able to customise the power without adjusting the heat and vice versa, but you can’t do this with the Baby Buttercup. Its options are warm at medium power or hot at full power. I do appreciate the addition of a cool shot button, however, which I regularly use to set my hair once it’s styled.

How does the Drybar Buttercup Baby Travel Blow-Dryer perform?

I like to flip my hair over and blast it upside down and the Buttercup was easy to hold above my head for a long time, while the airflow was exceptionally good for such a compact dryer. At times, I felt like I might be frying my hair with the highest setting and I did have to apply the cool shot occasionally to keep my scalp from burning. It did dry my hair quickly and left it feeling smooth, I’d just prefer a little bit more control over my hair dryer heat.

What I was disappointed with was the attachment options. Both options that come with the hair dryer are concentrator nozzles but, with only a small difference in width between them – a few millimetres at most – it feels pretty pointless to include two in the box. Although you can buy a separate diffuser head to attach (The Bouncer, which we've ranked as one of the best diffusers for curly hair), it would have been useful to include one in the box, and one concentrator nozzle would be enough.

This is certainly a quiet hair dryer, even at full power, and it feels sturdy and robust where so many travel-size hair dryers can feel a bit pathetic or flimsy. My hair looked glossy and shiny when it was dry, but my scalp did feel hot and sensitised due to the limited temperature settings.

How does the Drybar Buttercup Baby Travel Blow-Dryer compare?

In terms of portability, this hair dryer is top of the charts. As someone who routinely only travels with hand luggage, the folding handle is a real space saver and makes the dryer a much more practical shape to slot into an already bursting case. The dual voltage is handy for travel, too – many times I’ve been caught short with a hair tool that won’t work on a visit to the States.

For a travel hair dryer, the Baby Buttercup has a premium feel to it. It’s light and comfortable to hold while remaining sturdy. It feels just like a standard hair dryer, only smaller, and its generous airflow is definitely comparable to a standard-sized hair dryer. However, the fact you can’t distinguish power from heat does let this model down a little, so you may want to look elsewhere if the lack of settings bothers you. It will also cost you a little extra to buy more attachments, which isn’t ideal.

Should you buy the Drybar Buttercup Baby Travel Blow-Dryer?

If you’re like me and want to be able to adjust your settings freely and easily to suit your hairstyle, you might not like the Baby Buttercup Travel Blow-Dryer. It’s a little limited in terms of customisation, but if this isn’t a problem for you and you’re looking for a simple, powerful, light and foldable hair dryer, it would make a great investment gadget.

What I love about this model is how robust it is without feeling heavy and cumbersome. Suitcases are often thrown around at airports, which could result in damage to a more fragile tool but this one feels like it could cope with a heavy-handed baggage handler and its dual voltage design means you aren't left panicking about a tool that might not work abroad.